Nursery

1

Hey guys! Welcome to the first chapter of the sequel to Day Care: Nursery! I'm very excited to write this story and explore more areas of Alpine. It'll be pretty interesting to learn more about what goes on and what has been going on for some time now. If you haven't read my announcement, my technology curse has hit once again. My laptop crashed on me and I am unsure when I can get it fixed. I'm currently writing from my work computer but I don't always have the extra time to write when I'm at work. Being an adult sucks. Anyway, I'm doing what I can to keep you posted and keep chapters going for you guys. Thanks for your continued support!

Let me know what you think of this first chapter!

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Alex stared down at me with wide eyes. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was untouched from the last time he slept. It wasn't a messy look but it did make him seem a bit crazy.

"How did you find us here?" I thought we were safe. I thought they wouldn't find us and we could move on with our lives.

He knelt down in front of me, causing me to shrink back. "People aren't hard to track down these days."

I swallowed, my hands starting to get sweaty.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Lyla. I mean it."

"I don't trust you."

He frowned. "I know it will take some time to build that back."

"I'm not going with you."

"Well, you can't stay here. Who's going to take care of you?"

"I don't need anyone to take care of me. I'm not a baby."

He held my gaze because he knew I was lying and he knew I knew the truth.

"Hey, you alright in there?" A guy called out from the doorway. I wanted to move to see who he was or what he looked like but I didn't want to turn away from Alex. Who knew what he'd do to me?

"We're fine. We'll be out in just a second. Get the van ready."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm not leaving with you."

He stood and looked down at me, towering over me. "I wanted to do this the easy way and at least let you have some dignity. But I don't have the patience for difficult people." He bent down and picked me up, easily throwing me over his shoulder.

A squeal left my lips as my stomach hit his shoulder. I immediately felt dizzy as my head hung, my hair dangling toward the ground. Blood rushed to my face and instead of the betrayal I expected to feel, I just felt angry.

I kicked my legs, hoping it would get Alex to loosen his grip and I could get away. But he was expecting that. Obviously.

He put a hand over the back of my knees and started walking from the messed up motel room. Any chance I had at getting away and getting back to normal was now gone. Gone faster than I ever could have imagined.

A black van waited in the parking lot beside mom and dad's car. A pit of worry started growing in my stomach when I didn't see them anywhere. What was going to happen to them?

What was going to happen to me?

Alex slid the back door open and set me in the middle, giving him space to get in beside me. He had the door shut quickly so no one would hear us. Not that anyone cared.

I moved back against the opposite door, putting my knees up in front of me for protection. I didn't know what was coming or what to expect. This wasn't the same Alex I threw crayons at just weeks prior. That Alex was long gone.

"How much did your parents tell you?"

"I know enough. Like not to trust you or anyone else."

He stared forward, his jaw set. I couldn't even begin to think of what was going on in his head. Was he thinking of all the ways he could kill me?

I slowly reached behind me to try and open the door. I knew it would hurt but I was even willing to jump out of the moving van just to get away. I was desperate enough to try anything.

"Don't, Lyla."

I pulled my foot back and went to kick him but he grabbed my ankle and held it. A jolt of pain shot up my leg and I cried out.

"I told you I'm not going to hurt you."

"Liar. You're hurting my ankle."

He glanced down at it with his brows raised. "I'm barely touching you."

I bit my lip. I was a baby if him even holding my ankle hurt. The whole goal of that cult was to weaken us so we believed anything they told us. I hated to admit that it had started working on me.

He let go and I pulled my leg back, sending him another glare.

He laughed and put his arm up on the back of the seat. "I always knew I liked you, Lyla."

"I can't believe I ever thought of you as a friend."

"I'm surprised you didn't suspect anything. You went along with it all like it was nothing. Like I was on your side."

I lunged at him and he threw his arm out to stop me. But I had other ideas. I bit down on his forearm, not stopping until I could taste blood.

"Son of a bitch!" He pushed me back, causing me to hit the door with a thud.

I quickly wiped the blood from my lip and grinned at him, finally feeling a bit of victory over him.

"What the hell?"

"I never said I wasn't going to hurt you."

"You said you could handle her, Alex." The driver said, his voice laced with venom.

Alex turned his head toward the front and narrowed his eyes. "I'm handling it. I've dealt with her before."

"Yeah, and I'm betting she didn't bite you before."

"Shut up."

I glanced between Alex and the driver, catching on quickly to their bickering. It seemed Alex was pretty respected by most. Though it didn't mean they didn't keep an eye on him. Trust was hard to keep in tense situations such as the one we were in.

"Better get some sleep, Lyla. It'll be a while before we get back."